Benefits of Guava, a Fruit with the Nectar of the Gods

Guava is a tropical fruit that has been cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. This delicious fruit is native to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and northern South America. Guava is very popular worldwide, and surely you must’ve tried one before! On some occasions, this fruit is referred to as ‘the nectar of the Gods’, as it contains a delicious-tasting juice inside the fruit and has many health benefits for humans. It can be eaten fresh as it is or made into juice, jams, and many more. This tropical fruit comes in two common colors: White and pink guava. Both are beneficial in their own ways for our bodies. 

Guava has a flavor similar to a pear, but many people have found the taste is like a blend of pear and strawberry or pear and grapefruit. On the whole, it tastes mild. The best way to describe the taste is by giving it a try if you haven’t eaten one before! Suppose you are wondering how to select the tasty and perfect guava for consumption, or you are wondering what kind of benefits this sweet and nutrient-packed fruit brings for your health? We have compiled all of the important facts you need to know about guava below!

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Guava Nutrition

Guava contains a lot of nutrition, from iron, calcium, potassium, and vitamin A. One whole guava contains:

• 37 calories.
• 1 gram of fat.
• 1 milligram of sodium.
• 8 grams of carbohydrates.
• 3 grams of fiber.
• 5 grams of sugar.
• 1 gram of protein.

Guava has a significant amount of sugar in it, so it’s important to moderate your sugar intake, as too much sugar in your diet might cause weight gain and tooth decay.

Health Benefits of guava

• Guava can help boost the health of our heart because the antioxidants and vitamins may help protect our heart from the damage caused by free radicals. The high potassium and fiber help promote the heart’s health.
• Guava is beneficial for our digestive system because it contains many dietary fibers to help healthy bowel movements and prevent constipation. Guava leaf can also reduce the intensity and duration of diarrhea. What’s more, they can aid those who had irritable bowel syndrome by eating guava to their diet.
• Guava is good for weight loss! It has only 37 calories in fruit and 12% of our recommended daily intake of fibers. Moreover, it is a filling and low-calorie snack packed with vitamins and minerals.
• Guava leaf is good for relieving painful symptoms of menstruation (dysmenorrhea) such as stomach cramps.
• Guava can help to boost our immunity. Because guava is one of the richest food sources of vitamin C, guava can provide a double amount of our vitamin C’s daily intake, almost twice the amount we can get from eating an orange. Vitamin C has an important role in maintaining our healthy immune system; hence guava can help promote our immunity.
• Guava for our healthy skin! Because of guava’s nutrients, it can work wonders for our skin. The antioxidants may help prevent our skin’s aging process and prevent wrinkles. Guava leaf extract can help treat acne when applied directly to the skin.
• Guava has an anti-cancer effect. Thanks to the powerful antioxidants, yet again, guava can prevent free radicals so it wouldn’t damage our cells, which is one of the main causes of cancer.

How to select the perfect guava fruit and prepare it right

To obtain the perfect guava, you need to pay attention to several points when selecting them. First, look for the softest guava. The softer the guava, the sweeter and more delicious it will be. Guavas are best when the texture is extremely smooth, although they are easily perishable at that moment. Once you purchase guava, you should have about two days before the fruit go bad, although it depends on how ripe the fruit is when you are buying it. To know the ripeness of guava, squeeze it gently. If it gives under our fingers, it means the guava is ripe. 

Second, choose the guava that doesn’t have too many blemishes or bruises because blemishes or bruises mean that the fruit is bad and wouldn’t taste too good. Third, check the guava’s color. Ripe guavas usually have bright green to a softer yellowish-green color. If there’s a shade of light pink on the fruit, it means the guava is in its prime. If you don’t find any yellow guava, buy the green one and wait for them to ripen. Fourth, smell the guava before you select it! A perfectly ripe guava’s fragrance can be smelled without having to put it near to your nose. The smell should be sweet and slightly musky.

After selecting the right guava, make sure to wash your guavas thoroughly with cold water to quell any bacterial growth. Then, pat it dry with paper towels. Finally, you can eat them however you want, either cut them up to pieces, eat them as a whole, or scoop out the insides. Guava rind is also edible as additional information, though make sure you have washed it thoroughly before eating it. If you don’t like the skin, you can peel it off before eating the flesh. The seeds are edible as they are a good source of fiber too.

Guava can be cooked, either stewed or added to fruit pie along with berries and apples. This tropical fruit can also be made into chutney, sauces, or jam. Although, be aware that once you cook guava, it destroys the vitamin C content.

Pink guava or white guava?

Whichever you prefer to eat, both of them have different effects on our body, but both are good in their own ways. Pink guava offers more water in its content, contains less sugar, less starch content, less seed, and vitamin C than white guava, making pink guava more often used as juice. Meanwhile, white guava contains more sugar, vitamin C, and starch, but it also has more seeds. It has a high amount of vitamin C compared to other fruits. So, which guava are you craving?

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